1940s
'Politics and Law' ''' The Roosevelt Era' Franklin D. Roosevelt elected the 32nd president of the United States on November 8, 1932.i He continues his political success by being reelected for a second term on November 3, 1936.ii After serving his second term, President Roosevelt received strong public support behind him running for a third term in office - something that was unheard of at this time. When attending the 1940 July Democratic Election, President Roosevelt asks for his party member to "draft" him into the nomination if it is their wish. He is quickly re-nominated to be the Democratic (and incumbent) candidate in the 1940 Presidential Elections.iii In November of 1940, Roosevelt is reelected for a third term in office, beating Republican nominee Wendell Wilkie with 55% of the popular vote.iv ---- i Alan Brinkley, “America in a World at War” in ''American History: Connecting with the Past, 14th ed, vol. 2 (Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2011), 745. ii Alan Brinkley, “America in a World at War”, 745. iii Alan Brinkley, “America in a World at War”, 746. iv Alan Brinkley, “America in a World at War”, 755. 'Government Response to World War II' With hostilities growing in Europe, The Roosevelt administration faced difficult challenges. Should the United States enter into the war, or should it continue its isolationist policies? In the fall of 1940, the answer to this question was unclear, but the Roosevelt administration made policy decisions that seemed in favor of joining the war. In September of 1940, Congress approved the Burke-Wadsworth Act that called for the first "peace time" draft.i A "land-lease" method of allowing arms to be continuously funneled to countries that the United States supported was adopted during December of 1940.ii Both these acts signified a significant leap by the United States government towards involvement in the War. ---- i James West Davidson, Experience History: Interpreting America’s Past. ''(New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2011), 535. ii James West Davidson, ''Experience History, 535. 'A World at War' After the German attack on the American ship "Greer" in September of 1941, Congress approved a measure allowing United States merchant ships to carry arms.i This also gave permission for these ships to sail into enemy combatant ports, allowing United States soldiers to directly sail into enemy ports with weapons. These policies launched a naval war against Germany. Only a few months later, Congress voted almost unanimously (388 to 1) to approve a declaration of war between the United States and Japan.ii This declaration was approved on December 7, 1941, within 4 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor.iii On December 11, Germany, Italy, and Japan declared war on the Untied States. The same day, the United States Congress declared war on these countries without a dissenting vote.iv ---- i Alan Brinkley, “America in a World at War”, 755. ii Alan Brinkley, “America in a World at War”, 756. iii James West Davidson, Experience History, 537. iv James West Davidson, Experience History, 537. 'Drawing to a Close' Franklin D. Roosevelt was reelected for his forth term in November of 1944. He named Harry Truman as his Vice President.i When his health took a turn for the worse, leading to his death in April 1945, President Truman took over office.ii During this time, the United States had been developing a weapon of mass destruction - bigger than any the world had ever seen. In the summer of 1945, they tested this weapon successfully.iii President Truman wasted no time in demanding a Japanese surrender; if they failed to comply he would drop the Atomic Bomb on their country. At this time, the administration had a "unconditional surrender" foreign strategy, and when Japan failed to surrender by the deadline, President Truman made the call to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, killing 80,000 civilians.iv The next day, a bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing 100,000 civilians.v One month later, on September 2, 1945, while aboard the battleship "Missouri", the government of Japan signed the terms of surrender.vi ---- i Alan Brinkley, “America in a World at War”, 758. ii Alan Brinkley, “America in a World at War”, 758. iii James West Davidson, Experience History, 526. iv James West Davidson, Experience History, 527. v James West Davidson, Experience History, 527. vi Alan Brinkley, “America in a World at War”, 760. 'Designing the New World ' 'The United Nations In February of 1945 before his death, Roosevelt met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and General Secretary Joseph Stalin for the Yalta Conference. At this conference, world leaders began to draft the outline of what would come to be the United Nations. It would be composed to two parts, a General Assembly and the Security Council. The General Assembly would include every member of the United Nations, while the Security Council would only include the 5 major power; The United States, The United Kingdom, France, The Soviet Union, and China. The seats on the Security Council would be permanent, and would hold the only veto power in the United Nations. The United Nations charter was ratified on April 25, 1945. It was brought to the United States Senate in July of that year, and was ratified by a vote of 80-2. 'The Truman Doctrine and Congressional Action On March 12, 1947, President Truman announced his policy to, "support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures." This would come to be known as the Truman Doctrine, and gave the United States the right to enter into countries if this policy was being violated. This doctrine was used as justification for military action overseas for the many years that followed. Congress approved the National Security Act of 1947 that year, which created a new Department of Defense that would oversee all branches of the armed forces. This act also created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and gave the President expanded powers in times of war. In the presidential election of 1948, President Truman won over Thomas Dewey (NY) by a popular vote of 49.5% over Dewey's 45.1%. The election was very close, and President Truman's approval rating suffered greatly. The following year, The United States signed a treaty that would come to shape how the US handled problems of international security. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was signed on April 4, 1949, and included 12 nations. The premise of this treaty was simple; if one of the nations in the treaty were attacked, all the others would take it as an attack on their own country and respond as such. This established a strong relationship between the United States and many European countries that would become vital in the years to come. War and Foreign Relations 'Pearl Harbor' The 1940s were completely dominated by World War II. It slowly began In what became known as the "Greer Incident," who became the first U.S. Navy ship to fire on a German ship, three months before the United States officially entered World War II. In May of 1940, Roosevelt transferred the Pacific fleet from its California bases to a forward position at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Towards the end of November in 1941, intercepted Japanese messages revealed that an assault in the Pacific was ready to take place, however no one knew where it would come. President Roosevelt had once campaigned to enter into World War II but Congress and everyone else was against it. That was until, December 7th, 1941. Japanese planes launched from aircraft carriers, bombed the naval base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii,which was the first attack by a foreign power on American soil since the War of 1812. This led over 2,000 American servicemen being killed, and 187 aircraft and 18 naval vessels including 8 battleships, being destroyed or damaged. (a) 'The Cold War ' The Cold war was between the United States and the USSR following after World War II. The term Cold War was to describe their relationship with each other. The USA and USSR fought for their beliefs but not by direct military action, it was more just a continous state of political tension between the two. (b) War on the Home Front ' '''Americans on the U.S mainland enjoyed complete immunity from foreign attack- however though the public was at first against going to war until the attack of Pearl Harbor, the high demand for war products gave jobs to many Americans, bringing us out of the Great Depression. Mobilization of the economy left factories begging for women workers, bringing us to an entire new level of respect. Millions of American women gladly took their places when it came to the work force, at the start of the war about a quarter or adult women worked in factories except for textile mills and sewing industries because employers and male works often discriminated against them. On February 19, 1942, soon after the beginning of World War II, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The evacuation order commenced the round-up of 120,000 Americans of Japanese heritage to one of 10 internment camps. They were forced to abandon their homes and jobs and live in the camps throughout western states. (a) 'D-Day' An enormous invasion force has been gathering in England for two years, almost 3 million troops and perhaps the greatest array of naval vessels and armaments ever assembled in one place. On the morning of June 6,1944 D-day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of the Allied forces, sent this army into action. They landed along sixty miles of the Contentin Peninsula along the coast of Normandy. This is where airplanes and battleships offshore bombarded the Nazi defenses, 4,000 vessels landed troops and supplies on the beaches leading to an intense fight along the beach. And within a week, the German forces had been dislodged from virtually the entire Normandy coast. © 'Works Cited' '(a) Alan Brinkley, American History,''14th edition., Vol. 2 (McGraw-Hill/ New York, NY, 2012), 735-750 (b) Roy Rosenzweig, ''Who Built America?, 3rd ed.,Vol. 2. (Boston:Bedford/St.Martins,2008.) 549-560. © Eric Foner, ''Give Me Liberty, ''3rd ed., Vol. 2, (Norton & Company/ New York, NY 2011), 910- 917 Commerce and the Economy : ''The changing decade'' *'''How the United States looks financially before the war *'Changing demographics before and after the war' *'New rules and regulations to protect the economy i.e. the 'hatch act, ''' : '''During the war *'rationing' *'the workforce undergoes drastic changes, as does the type of economy leading to ' *'social changes at home,' *'The return' college degrees become huge, thanks war! *'rural to the city' *'babies are made leading to trouble in a later decade' : The United States economic model after the war Science and Technology 'Advancements on the Battlefield' World War II set the stage for many technological and scientific advancements. In 1942, President Truman approved construction of the Atomic Bomb. This undertaking was coined "The Manhattan Project" and was tested in the New Mexico desert in 1945. In 1949, construction of the Hydrogen Bomb began as word of a Soviet atom bomb reached the United States. Other notable achievements made by scientists during the war include radar, ballistic missiles, and the proximity fuse (a small radio device placed in anti-aircrafts that could detect nearby metal and detonate the shell without having to hit the target.) Scientists also began to explore some basic forces of nature in order to counter harsh weather conditions that troops encountered during battle. The fields of meteorology and geophysics, for the first time, offered information on wind, ocean currents, and tides. These efforts eventually laid the groundwork for understanding climate change. Antibiotics were widely used for the very first time, offering relief from a plethora of deadly diseases which were poorly contained years before. As a result, the average life expectancy increased by 3 years. 'Advancements at Home' Culture and Society Civil Rights During the war civil rights changed as acceptance for African-Americans grew to be over a milio n fighting in the military. Even for Mexican Americans and Asian Americans the war was a good way to gain acceptance and citizenship. Partly because the war, throughout the forties African-Americans grew a lot of acceptance from the rest of the country. In 1942 the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was created and helped make huge stepstowards equality. In 1944 all white primarys were illigal in Texas and by 1945 the NAACP had grown times ten to a half a million people. As African-Americans gained national acceptance and grew to have a voice in politicsJapanese acceptance started heading in the opposite direction. Because of the war, a growing concern for Japanese-Americans caused President Roosevelt to intervene. In 1942 President Roosevelt authorized the removal of anyone deemed a threat from military areas, creating the period of Japenese Internment. 'Women in the Workforce' With all the men away at war, women joined the workforce. World War II caused a need for alot of war supplies, so americans learned to live without the luxury of new cars or other technologies. After the Office of War Mobilization (OWM) was created to prepare for the war and factories were forced to create war materials. The big three ( Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler) provided for 20% of all war goods. Women worked in these factories and made war materials; and even though they only made 65% of what men made. The number of em ployed women rose to about 19 million as they went from less than a quarter of the workforce to being over a third by 1945 Social Life Coming out of World War II worries from a Nazi controlled Europe shifted toward the concern of communism spreading. Even with this concern, the american people managed to enter a time of prosperity after sixteen years of war and depression, which would last them until the 1970s. Due to all the jobs created from the war, americans had money to spend. With no need to focus on war supplies, factories could focus on the technologies and luxeries the american people wanted like refridgerators, televisions, and others which changed american social life. These creations cause the average family life to often include a house in the suburbs and dinners around the T.V. Most forms of entertainment also began to change. After the war many movies and songs changed their focus to other things besides the war or effects of it. Following the war, movies became a huge influence in american colture as more than sixty million americans attended movies regularly. Movies plots turned from wars and patriotic concepts to plots of romance and other genres. Music similarily turned from lyrics about someone leaving for war, or events associated with it , to a mojority of songs about love.